Iron Dragon

The Iron Dragon is a metallic dragon. Violent and ill-tempered, iron dragons are undoubtedly
the most brutish and vicious of the metallic
races. Many iron dragons are evil, and most of the
rest are, at best, a particularly hungry and dangerous variety of unaligned.

Contents

Iron dragons naturally favor settings that offer plenty of game and good cover. They build lairs in dense
forest or broken hills–terrain that offers many hiding
places for a large predator.

Iron dragons hide their lairs well. In the absence
of truly inaccessible terrain, an iron dragon settles
for the most difficult and tangled ground cover
it can find. Caves in brush-filled forest ravines or
briar-choked gulches are common iron dragon lairs.
Given their tough, thick scales, iron dragons have no
qualms about plunging through the thickest patches
of thorny foliage. The lair usually consists of several
large, unimproved antechambers–natural caves with
uneven floors, jagged rocks, or hindering vegetation
hanging down from the outside, often festooned with
the rotting remains of previous meals–and a deeper,
more comfortable den.

Iron dragons prey on midsized game, such as boar,
deer, or antelope. Most regard humanoids as prey too,
and they prefer small, comparatively weak creatures,
such as goblins, kobolds, gnomes, and halflings.
Natural ambush predators, they lie hidden in deep
thickets or old ruins alongside roads until a tempting
target wanders within reach of a sudden charge.
Good-aligned iron dragons refrain from devouring
intelligent creatures (except for the occasional goblin),
but evil ones prize intelligent prey and often roam
far from their native forests in search of humanoid
settlements, well-traveled roads, and other suitable
hunting grounds.

Iron dragons have coarse, heavy, dark gray metallic
scales. Although they might be confused with silver
or mithral dragons, the other metallics tend to be
much brighter in color, and their scales are smaller
and finer. As it ages, an iron dragon develops rusty-brown
streaks, especially on scales near major joints
and on its wings.

Iron dragons are governed by their base passions–hunger,
greed, creature comforts (of the sort that
appeal to dragons, anyway), and the desire to be
feared and respected. The best of the race are sullen
and reclusive, preferring their own company to that
of others. Most iron dragons seek to sate their brutish
impulses by devouring or robbing any creature foolish
enough to intrude on their demesnes. They are
not especially clever and can sometimes be outwitted
through bribery, flattery, and other such tactics–their
greed can easily override their natural sullenness.

Young iron dragons are easily enticed into serving
other monsters as guardians or champions. Goblins
and their kin especially prize iron dragons for their
fierceness and their susceptibility to bribes, gifts, and
flattery. Larger and more powerful monsters, such as
giants, can easily bully iron dragons. No matter how
their allegiance is won, iron dragons make dangerous
and unreliable servants. The larger they grow, the
more demanding they become. Few goblin realms
successfully keep an iron dragon under control for
long after the dragon reaches adulthood, and only the most powerful of masters can retain the loyalty of an
elder or an ancient iron dragon.

Iron dragons dislike all other dragons, but they
especially resent green dragons. Both prefer the same
types of forest environs, and the sly, malicious greens
frequently frustrate and outwit iron dragons with
their exceptional intelligence.